BERLIN WALL

Contemporary world
MORELIA GOUJON ARRIAGA 2911320
The Berlin Wall was
why?
to stop an exodus from the
built 1O August 13,
eastern, communist part of
1961 divided Germany to the
more prosperous west.
 COLD WAR
◦The 45-year standoff between the West and
the U.S.S.R. ended when the Soviet Union
dissolved. Some say another could be starting
as tensions with Russia rise.

◦Between 1946 and 1991 the United States,

the Soviet Union, and their allies were locked
in a long, tense conflict known as the Cold War.
Though the parties were technically at peace,
the period was characterized by an aggressive
arms race, proxy wars, and ideological bids for
world dominance. in thids period the berlin
wall was built
Errors committed by leaders that led to a
crisis in what was then the USSR
Leonid Brézhnev an
authoritarian leader that took
his country to the cusp of
power and economic
influence. Even still, and in a
quite ironic fashion, Brezhnev
also was an indecisive leader
and megalomaniac that took
his country to the brink of
economic collapse. Excessive
spending on arms and
intervention, corruption and
an increasingly inefficient and
bureaucratic Soviet system
Andropov faced off against the
adamantly anticommunist
diplomacy of President Ronald
Reagan. Relations between the
United States and the Soviet
Union were severely strained
when Soviet pilots shot down a
Korean airliner in September
1983. Later that year, Soviet
diplomats broke off negotiations
concerning reductions in
Intermediate Range Nuclear
Forces and the Strategic Arms
Reduction Talks
Chernenko was elected president
of the Defense Council.
Chernenko’s own speech, on a
prudent continuation of the line
set in motion by Andropov, that
is, the correction of labour
performance standards, the anti-
corruption campaign and the
policy of firmness before the
West, did not bring any novelty,
and abounded to the alarming
paralysis that afflicted the USSR
at all levels.
Mijail Gorbachov
politics
◦Gorbachov was a reformist leader that the
founded his politics on two great pillars called
Perestroika and Glasnos. Perestroika proposed the
restructuring of the economy and the other being
Glasnost, a proposal to create a free political
system with openness and transparency. Despite
these reformist efforts, the Soviet economy
continued to decline, and the countries of the
Communist Bloc began showing discontent,
eventually leading to a series of social movements
that opened the door to revolutions.
domino effect that began in
Poland.
◦The origin of these revolutionary events can be found in
Poland, around 1988, when a series of strikes and civil
movements began to put pressure on the need for political
change. The principal promoting organism of these
movements would come to be called Solidarity, and its leader
was Lech Walesa. The resistance gained more ground and in
1989, there was a call for elections. The Solidarity movement
nominated Tadeusz Mazowiecki as the new Prime Minister,
resulting in a win and, as a result, putting an end to more than
40 years of a communist government. The Soviet Union
decided not to intervene and, thus, began the fall of the
Communist Bloc in an irreversible domino effect.
◦The events in Poland were quickly followed by
similar movements in Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
Bulgaria and Eastern Germany. In Romania, the
communist leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, was
characterized by as being one of the most
authoritarian and oppressive of the Eastern Bloc. His
fierce resistance to political change paved the way
for a violent transition.Having soon after lost the
backing of the military, he was detained and
executed along with his wife. In Eastern Germany,
the transition was symbolic and marked the
beginning of the end of the Soviet Union and its
sphere of influence.
 The fall of the Berlin Wall
German unification
◦On the 9th of November 1989, amidst a series of peaceful protests, the
Eastern German government officially announced that the citizens of Berlin
could travel between the east and west without any major problems. The
people of Berlin spontaneously began hording the checkpoints in the Berlin
Wall, demanding immediate permission to cross.Upon finally achieving said
permission, a great fervor of celebration of the newly gained liberty ensued.
That very evening the people of Berlin, having gathered in masses, brought
whatever tools they had and began dismantling the wall.

◦The old communist regime (the Social Democratic

Party) lost the elections in a landslide, giving way to a
new government headed by Lothar de Maizière who
immediately began discussions with Eastern Germany
to begin a reunification process.
 social consequences
Are the people happier
or discontent?
◦People wanted the wall to fall and also wanted a change so
people were happier with the changes, to saw again their
family and that they could have more liberties.
The government owns all the businesses and properties
(the means of production).
There is no freedom of speech.
Large or geographically-broad populations tend to be
diverse, making it difficult to maintain a common goal or
set of rules for shared effort andresources.
most of this aspects disappeared
What failed…the economic
system or the decisions
taken by socialist leaders?
◦So many things fail, starting with the presidents who weren’t enough
with their abilities and only made more damage, a president is a person
capable of repare damage caused that affect in the country, so pepole
how become the chair,an and didnt knew how to control and establish
the country, only took down hill the situation, but the economic system
and the general system was also failing, they needed a change to
become better and impulse their people and country, so i think the two
things affected a lot.
 In my own opinion the visibles isadvantages of
socialism include slow economic growth, less
entrepreneurial opportunity and competition, and a
potential lack of motivation by individuals due to lesser
rewards.
Biografiás y Vidas. (s. f.). Biografia de Konstantin Chernenko. Recuperado 29 de octubre de 2021,
de https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/c/chernenko.htm
•Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, March 16). Mikhail Gorbachev. Encyclopedia
Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Gorbachev
•Universidad Tecmilenio. (s. f.). Topic 13. The fall of the Socialist Bloc in Europe. Recuperado 29
de octubre de 2021, de https://cursos.tecmilenio.mx/courses/65843/pages/my-course?
module_item_id=252157
•History.com Editors. (2021a, marzo 31). Berlin Wall. HISTORY. Recuperado 29 de octubre de
2021, de https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
•Blakemore, E. (2021, 4 mayo). Cold War facts and information. Culture. Recuperado 29 de
octubre de 2021, de https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/cold-war
thank you
i hope you enjoy it